Max Pacioretty played his first game as a member of the Washington Capitals, and it was one to forget for the former star — at least according to him.
Patches hasn't played in nearly a year after suffering a re-torn Achilles while with the Carolina Hurricanes, and he clearly looked slow compared to the pace of play on Wednesday.
The Caps were beaten 6-3 by the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena in DC.
“It was a lot of emotions. Obviously haven't played. I played five games in two years almost, so yeah, a lot of emotions, but at the end of the day, probably couldn't get any worse than it did for me tonight,” Pacioretty admitted, per The Hockey News' Sammi Silber. “Got to get better from it.”
The 35-year-old played 11:47 in the contest, finishing with a shot attempt, two hits, a giveaway and a minus-1 rating, while playing on the third line with Dylan Strome and Matthew Phillips.
“I don't think I ever really caught up tonight. It's a tricky situation right now,” he continued. “I think I had one practice with a line, so. It's that time of year where you don't practice much. Don't want to use that as an excuse but definitely felt like I practiced one time with a line.”
Pacioretty looking at big picture
But despite the tough debut, it was great to see Pacioretty back on the ice after what have must been a brutal few years recovering from multiple surgeries.
“Meant a lot to have my family here. All day kids were pumped up to see me out there I think it's a testament to what my family's been able to overcome,” Patches reflected. “To my knowledge no one has been through this injury I've been through this many times and come back from it. So I'm definitely proud of that, but not proud of my game.”
Although Pacioretty wasn't happy with this game, teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov was glad to have him back.
“I'm happy for him. He's such a good person and player and amazing family… he had a lot of ugly, bad days and he just encourage young people and other players to stay motivated,” Kuznetsov explained. “Doesn't matter how badly injured and how tough the days and how dark the days in the gym, nobody saw that, right? But we see him keep working every day and it's just amazing to see player like that come back. And I believe he's gonna build and get better and better.”
Game no. 2 of the season for Max Pacioretty should be on Friday night when the Caps welcome the Hurricanes to Capital One Arena on Friday.
Follow Us
Subscribe